About Me

I feel I am able to communicate
well and I have a good grounding
in people skills.......Basically
all humanity is the same!
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The foundation of this blog was cemented by the Assassination of Hrant Dink on 19.01.07. I was listening to Setrak Setrakian’s rendition of Arno Babajanian’s composition, Elegy. So
moved by Hrant’s shortened life by the virtue of speaking his mind that I wrote the poem, ‘Without You’ with Hrant's family in mind. The subject matter of the recognition of the ‘Genocide of the Armenians in 1915,’ is very much at the heart and the minds of Armenian's Internationally.
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I want to say: 'Thank you,'
to Keith for the Creation
and Launch of,
Seta's Armenian.blogspot.com
and Armenag for the sources
of information.
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If you feel it would be appropriate, please include a link to my Blog from your Site. I would like my Blog to be as eclectic as possible and include material from as many and different sources so long as it is relevant to my subject matter.

About My Blog

This well-established Blog is worth visiting on a regular basis for a wealth of information of interest to Armenian nationals and to the Armenian Diaspora world-wide. Although it has a particular role in promoting international recognition of the Genocide, the Blog encompasses much more and includes many articles of general appeal to all those concerned with Armenian affairs. Much of the content is difficult or impossible to find elsewhere and the long list of links provided gives easy access to a plethora of material on social, political, religious, educational and cultural matters, and many news items from around the world.

"We are deeply concerned about the clashes continuing in Syria and thehumanitarian situation, which is getting worse every day. The Armenianauthorities are focusing on the problems of Syrian Armenians, which isindicated by the Armenian general consulate in Aleppo, the onlyforeign diplomatic mission, and also the embassy in Damascus,"Sargsian said at a meeting of the state commission on the coordinationof events devoted to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

The Armenian president said 16,000 Armenians have already arrived fromSyria in Armenia since the beginning of the crisis.

Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan has expressed his deep concernover the Syria crisis affecting the Armenian community, Sargsyan toldon Saturday a meeting of the governmental commission on coordinationof events dedicated to the centenary of Armenian genocide in theOttoman Empire

Armenia "is deeply concerned with the continuing clashes in Syria andwith the daily deteriorating humanitarian situation in that country,"Sargsyan said. "Armenia keeps a watching eye on the problems ofcompatriots living in the region and in particular, of SyrianArmenians."

"The only diplomatic mission operating in Aleppo, Armenia's consulategeneral, testifies to the fact," he said noting that "Armenia'sembassy keeps working in Damascus."

"Successors of the Armenians, who were lucky to survive in the 1915genocide, share the destiny of the people who thrusted out a helpinghand to them then and now are suffering huge human and materiallosses," the president said recalling that his country had accepted16,000 Syrian refugees.

"Without a single exception, all the Armenian state bodies have beeninvolved in solution of Syrian Armenians' problems and in socialisingthem," he said.

Besides, Sargsyan thanked the countries and internationalorganisations, the Armenian community abroad and individuals who haveprovided and are providing assistance in settlement of Syrian Armenianrefugees in Armenia.

BAKU/YEREVAN (Reuters) - One Azeri soldier and four troops from theArmenian-backed breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region have been killed inborder clashes, the Azeri defense ministry said on Saturday.

The Azeri defense ministry accused Armenia of provoking theconfrontation but Armenia said on Friday that Azeri forces hadattacked several villages near the border between the two formerSoviet republics, killing three civilians.

Clashes around Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies inside Azerbaijan but iscontrolled by a majority of ethnic Armenians, are stoking fears of awider conflict breaking out in the South Caucasus, which is crossed byoil and gas pipelines.

Nagorno-Karabakh has run its own affairs with heavy military andfinancial backing from Armenia since a separatist war ended in 1994.Its Armenian-backed forces hold seven Azeri districts surroundingNagorno-Karabakh.

One Azeri soldier was killed and three were wounded in the clashes,the Azeri defense ministry said in its statement.

"Responsibility for escalation of tension at the frontline is onArmenia's political and military leadership," the ministry said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh ministry of defense said on Friday that four ofits soldiers had died and several were wounded as a result ofartillery shelling and gunfire from the Azeri forces.

Armenia's defense ministry accused Azerbaijan of stoking the conflict.Both Armenia and Azerbaijan say the other side has been using heavyweapons.

"In order to quiet and deter the adversary ... Armenia's armed forceswill hereafter apply adequate artillery and rocket striking means,continuously targeting permanent deployment areas, military movements,military equipment and manpower," the ministry said in a statement.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh broke out in the dying years of theSoviet Union and has killed about 30,000 people. Efforts to reach apermanent settlement have failed despite mediation led by France,Russia and the United States.

Oil-producing Azerbaijan, host to global oil companies including BPPlc, Chevron Corp and ExxonMobil Corp, frequently threatens to takethe mountain region back by force, and is spending heavily on itsarmed forces.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)appealed to the sides to avoid civilian casualties.

RFE/RL ReportMediators Urge Baku To Accept Karabakh Ceasefire Safeguard27.09.2015The U.S., Russian and French mediators urged Azerbaijan on Saturday toaccept their long-standing proposal to set up a mechanism forinternational investigations of ceasefire violations in theNagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

"Armenia has agreed to discuss the details of the mechanism, and weurged Azerbaijan to do the same," the three co-chairs of the OSCEMinsk Group said one day after hosting fresh talks in New York betweenthe foreign ministers of the two states.

The talks were overshadowed by recent days' fresh escalation offighting along "the line of contact" around Karabakh and theArmenian-Azerbaijani border, which has left about a dozen soldiers andcivilians dead.

"The Co-Chairs condemned in strong terms the use of artillery thatcaused additional casualties in the last twenty-four hours," read ajoint statement issued by them. "We extend our deepest condolences tothe families of the deceased. An escalation of violence is not in theinterest of Azerbaijanis or Armenians, or a negotiated settlement."

The mediators said that they discussed with Foreign Ministers EdwardNalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov the "immediate need to reducetensions" on the frontlines. They believe that an "OSCE mechanism toinvestigate ceasefire violations" would help to defuse tensions.

Armenia and Karabakh's ethnic Armenian leadership have repeatedly

said that they support the idea. Nalbandian reaffirmed this stance

during the talks with Mammadyarov.

By contrast, Azerbaijan has objected to the proposed investigationsuntil now. Its leaders have said that such an arrangement would bemeaningless in the absence of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal.

Significantly, the mediating troika also announced on Saturday thatthe two ministers "agreed to continue preparations with the Co-Chairs"for a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. The summitis "expected to be held before the end of this year," it said.

armenpress.am

Blessing of the Holy Muron launched at Mother See of

Holy Etchmiadzin27 September, 2015

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27. Blessing of the Holy Muron islaunched at Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Primates of dioceses ofthe Armenian Apostolic Church, leaders of Hierarchical Sees ofJerusalem and Constantinople, representatives of the Great House ofCilicia came to participate in the ceremony conducted ones in 7 years.

`Armenpress' reports that the silver pot of Muron is located at theHoly See open-air altar St. Trdat,filled with olive oil mixed with asubstance made from 40 spices of herbs. The pot had remained on theMain Altar of Mother Cathedral for 40 days.

After the blessing of the Holy Muron, covered with a veil, will remainon the altar for the believers and pilgrims.

The blessings and consecration of the Holy Muron (Chrism) is a sacredand mysterious service, which is traditionally held once every 5 to 7years. Muron has two essential elements: olive oil and balsam, whichare mixed with more than 40 varieties of incense, flowers, spices,flower essences, oils and leaves. 40 days before the Blessing andConsecration of Muron the caldron filled with pure olive oil, isplaced on the altar of the Mother Cathedral and covered with a wovenveil. During each of the 40 days, a special service is offered afterthe evening worship, in preparation for the upcoming Muron BlessingCeremony.

In the Armenian Church, the right to Bless and Consecrate the HolyMuron is reserved for the Catholicos of All Armenians, who blesses itwith three traditional Holy relics of our Church: the Relic of theTrue Cross, which contains a piece of the Life-Giving Cross of theLord; the Holy Lance `Geghard' which pierced the side of Christ; andthe reliquary of the Right Hand of St. Gregory the Illuminator.

The blessing of the Holy Muron is a sacred act for every Armenian. Itis a uniting force for Armenians spread all over the world and apowerful tie between the past and present of this small nation.

Against expectations that Armenia's economy would be boosted bymembership of the Eurasian Economic Union, the figures show thecountry worse off than before.

Many Armenians hoped that improved customs and trading terms wouldopen the way to a boom in exports to other members of the bloc,which came into being in January 2015.

When President Serzh Sargsyan formally signed the accession treatyin October 2014, he was upbeat about the prospects.

"It's obvious to us that together, we are stronger economically andit's easier for us to respond to global challenges," he said. "TheEurasian union is huge in terms of geographical reach. We are certainthat there's enormous untapped potential there to boost our positionon the map of the world."

But in 2015, Armenia's weak economy has struggled to compete againstgiants Russia, Kazakstan and Belarus.

A weak ruble has made Armenian goods relatively expensive in Russia,and imports from that country are correspondingly cheaper. The fifthbloc member, Kyrgyzstan, is also suffering a disappointing start.

The head of the Union of Exporters, Raffi Mkhjyan, says the promisedbenefits of accession have yet to arrive.

"In recent years, we've constantly been told that the170-million-strong market of the Eurasian union countries will openup colossal opportunities for us and that we'll get easier access tothe Russian market," he told IWPR. "But what do we see now? The samequeues and problems at the Russian border. That country thinks onlyabout its own companies. The ruble has been devalued so much thatit's quite simply unprofitable for us to sell there. As a result,our exports are falling."

Armenian's statistical office reports that exports to Russia fellby a whopping 47 per cent year on year in the first half of 2015,and by 33 and 30 per cent to Kazakstan and Belarus, respectively.

Imports from Russia might have been expected to rise, since a weakerruble has made them cheaper for Armenians. But instead they toofell, by 15 per cent, as spending power contracted due to the generaleconomic situation, and specifically a reduction in spending power asArmenian migrant workers in Russia send less money home. Nevertheless,Armenia's imports from Russia still dwarf exports to that country,at 420 million US dollars against 70 million in January-June.

The fall in Russian imports fits a pattern of slowing trade among allEurasian bloc members, as regional economies slow down as a resultof recession in Russia caused by low oil prices and Western sanctions.

International Monetary Fund figures from June predict the Russianeconomy will contract by 3.8 per cent this year, while Armenia willsee zero growth.

Figures for January to May (the month Kyrgyzstan joined) show thattrade between Russia, Belarus, Kazakstan and Armenia fell by 26 percent compared with the same period in 2014.

The ruble has fallen to 50 per cent of its value against the UScurrency at the start of 2014, whereas the dram has fallen by only17 per cent over the same period - and almost not at all in the lastseven months.

Gagik Makaryan, chairman of the Armenian Employer's Union, says Russiahas gained an unfair advantage over its Eurasian bloc partners becausea cheaper ruble makes its goods so much more competitive than theirs.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned as "savage" the beating of yetanother Armenian anti-government activist and called on theauthorities in Yerevan to identify and punish those responsible forthe violence.

In a statement released late on Tuesday, the New York-based watchdogstressed that Smbat Hakobian, a member of the Alliance of FreedomFighters, was assaulted and severely injured on Monday shortly aftertaking part in an anti-government demonstration in Yerevan.

"The effectiveness of the investigation into the vicious assault onSmbat Hakobian will be a true test of how seriously the Armeniangovernment takes its commitment to free expression and peacefulassembly," Rachel Denber, HRW's deputy director for Europe and CentralAsia, was quoted by the statement as saying.

"People in Armenia shouldn't be risking serious injury to take part ina peaceful protest," Denber said. "The government needs to make clearthat anyone who interferes with peaceful protesters will be heldaccountable to the full extent of the law."

HRW noted in that regard that three other members of Hakobian'sorganization, which unites Armenian veterans of the Nagorno-Karabakhwar critical of the government, were beaten up in Yerevan late lastyear. "No one has been held accountable for those attacks," it said.

Meanwhile, the Armenian police said on Wednesday that they havedetained three men on suspicion of involvement in Hakobian'sbeating. A police spokesman did not identify them, saying only thatnone of the suspects is called Tigran.

Hakobian claimed on Tuesday that one of his attackers, a certainTigran, works as a bodyguard for Ruben Hayrapetian, a controversialbusinessman close to the government. He said that Hayrapetianthreatened him with violence when he attended last June's streetprotests in Yerevan against an electricity price hike. The tycoonangrily denied any involvement in Hakobian's beating, branding theactivist a "well-known liar."

Hakobian told RFE/RL's Armenian service from his hospital bed onWednesday that he continues to suspect Hayrapetian of having a hand inthe assault. He at the same time sounded optimistic about the outcomeof the criminal investigation launched by law-enforcementauthorities. He said that Vladimir Gasparian, the chief of thenational police service, twice phoned him on Monday to inquire abouthis health condition and offer support.

[Tigran is performing with member of the Yerevan State Choir in

London on 15 October]

The Irish TimesSeptember 25, 2015 FridayTIGRAN HAMASAYAN Luys I Luso HHHH ECMby: Cormac LarkinCould this be the next ECM dinner-party hit? On his label debut,Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasayan's seriousness about exploring hismusical heritage is not to be doubted, and the ancientness andprofundity of Armenian sacred music are beyond question; but whetherthose issues are going to matter when ECM's latest jazz-improv-meets-spooky-male-choir reaches the ears of the chattering classes isanother matter.

Light from Light, as the name translates, will reward close attention,touching the ancient roots of western music and revealing a pianist ofgrowing international stature; but this delightful filigree of melodicinvention, laid over a shifting reed bed of male vocal harmony, willalso provide a perfect accompaniment to a goat's cheese salad. I'mjust saying. propermusic.com

RFE/RL ReportVatican Cardinal Opens New Catholic Church In ArmeniaSatenik Kaghzvantsian24.09.2015

Underscoring Armenia's warm relationship with the Vatican, PresidentSerzh Sarkisian attended on Thursday the inauguration of a newlyconstructed Catholic church in Gyumri which was led by a visitingVatican cardinal.

The Church Of Holy Martyrs was consecrated by Cardinal LeonardoSandri, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Oriental Churches,five years after the start of its construction financed by RomanCatholic structures in Europe and the United States. The Lebanon-basedPatriarch Gregory Peter XX, the head of the Armenian Catholic Church,also took part in the ceremony.

Armenia is home to some 20,000 Catholics following traditionalArmenian religious rites. They are concentrated in the northwesternShirak province, of which Gyumri is the capital. All Catholic churchesin Gyumri were shut down shortly after Armenia was incorporated intothe Soviet Union in 1922.

Thousands of other Armenian Catholics live in Georgia's Javakhetiprovince bordering Shirak.

"I'm a believer of the Armenian Apostolic Church but decided to cometo the Catholic church. It doesn't make any difference," a Gyumriresident attending the consecration told RFE/RL's Armenian service(Azatutyun.am).

Senior clerics of the Apostolic Church, to which the vast majority ofArmenians belong, were also present at the ceremony. They includedBishop Mikael Ajapahian, the head of its Shirak diocese.

Officials said that the Church of Holy Martyrs is dedicated to some1.5 million Armenians who were massacred by the Ottoman Turks duringthe First World War.

Pope Francis referred to those massacres as "the first genocide of the20th century" in April while holding a special mass at the Vatican'sSt. Peter's basilica on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy. Turkeyreacted angrily to that characterization, accusing the pontiff ofdistorting history and recalling its ambassador to the Vatican inprotest.

Armenia rejected the Turkish criticism. Foreign Minister EdwardNalbandian praised Francis for delivering the "important message ofsolidarity with and support to the Armenian people."

Francis again paid tribute to Armenians massacred "just for beingChristians" after holding a mass with Gregory Peter XX at theVatican's St. Martha chapel earlier this month. He compared theirsuffering with the ongoing persecution of ancient Christiancommunities of the Middle East.

arka.amARMENIAN GRAPE HARVEST EXPECTED TO BE ABOUT

300,000 TONS YEREVAN, September 25. This year's grape harvest is expectedto be around 300,000 metric tons, by 20,000 tons more than in 2014,Armenian agriculture minister Sergo Karapetyan told a Cabinet session

The minister said some 80,000 tons have been already bought by wineriesand other processing companies, by 20,000 less from the year before.

According to the ministry, the purchase of grapes began on September7 and 32 of the 49 processing companies are buying grapes. Procurementis not started yet in Vayots Dzor region, Karapetyan said.

According to him, there are certain difficulties due to lack offunding, but the processing companies are working so that all thegrapes be procured.

Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan on September 19 instructed theministry of agriculture to ensure that all grape and fruit grown byfarmers be procured in full.

Tuesday, 29 September 2015

POPE FRANCIS IS THE VICAR OF CHRIST. NUTS TO BELIEVE HE IS THE ANTICHRIST!------------------------------------------------------------

To get an Oxford theology degree in AD 1625 you might have had to answer the question: ‘Is the Pope Anti-Christ?’ Huh! How could the Vicar of Christ – one of the Roman Pontiff’s titles – be the Antichrist? The prince of Christ’s enemies? The chief of the demonic forces of evil unveiled before the Second Coming? Yet, many wonder about Pope Francis. I have googled the question - I got over a million results in a few seconds.

Back in 1625 Protestant divines were perhaps gunning for the reigning Pope, Urban VIII. More likely, they foamed about the historic institution of the hated Papacy. Insane charge. Because it seems to negate Christ’s prophecy to St Peter: ‘The gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church’. Thus, if the whole Catholic Church was under the sway of Antichrist, Christ would have been wrong. No sane Christian should accept that.

Admittedly, some of Francis’ recent acts and omissions are perplexing. Why, for example, in his speech to the US Congress did he not mention Jesus Christ? He alluded to Moses, ‘the patriarch and lawgiver of the people of Israel’, but said nothing of one infinitely greater than Moses, Jesus the Messiah? (The US Congress ain’t quite Israel’s Knesseth…)

He lashed at unbridled capitalism – good – but why pass over in silence scourges like Communism, atheism and secularism? Helping the poor is essential but isn’t the Eucharist inclusive, for all believers? The rich, too? God’s Sacraments cannot be restricted to one class or underclass of the Faithful.

He warned against the ‘polarization’ that divides the world into ‘the righteous and the sinners’. Er…what else is Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats if not that? And what did Moses do to the Hebrews who had sinned worshipping the Golden Calf?

Francis singled out for praise four eminent Yanks but no canonised woman, like St Elizabeth Seton. Isn’t she good enough as American role model?

His attack on the death penalty will be cheered by beautiful souls. In fact, neither by Scripture nor by Sacred Tradition nor by Right Reason – the firm tripod of Catholic theology - can you rule out the legitimacy of capital punishment. Moses certainly did not.

None of that remotely makes Francis an Antichrist. Oh, is such beast singular or plural? The New Testament at times refers to a single satanic ruler or world demagogue, hell-bent on deceiving mankind into sin and evil. But St John in his First Letter speaks of ‘many Antichrists’, as opposed to a single, grand impostor. Throughout history too many got fingered. Caligula, Nero, Domitian, Simon Magus, Arius, Mahomet, Martin Luther, Pope Leo X, Charles Taze Russell - founder of those pesky nuisances, the Jehova’s Witnesses – Trotsky, Hitler, President Obama…and so on. Safe to infer that antichristian personages, real or imagined, have always existed. And always will.

The deepest modern meditation on the Antichrist is by the Russian Orthodox writer Vladimir Soloviev. Christ’s adversary is young, an acclaimed public celebrity and a great thinker. A person indeed of exceptional genius, beauty and nobility of character. As befits the author of the best-selling book, A Way to Universal Peace and Prosperity, he is a philanthropist, a reformer, a lover of humanity. A radical fellow, endowed with exceptional sympathy for the needy.

Soloviev’s Antichrist is no grotesque medieval devil, showing the clover hood and spitting fire. On the contrary, like in Paolo Signorelli’s painting of the Last Judgment, he physically looks remarkably like Christ. But he is envious: ‘Christ is first, why am I only second?’ So Satan seduces this champion of truth and goodness into rebellion…A story amazingly prophetic about a United States of Europe, with a President looking uncannily like Tony Blair! Only the Jews eventually suss him out. You can’t fool God’s ancient people, can you?

In America Pope Francis has scored exceptionally high. He has become a mega-star, almost universally loved and acclaimed. Conservatives are less enthusiastic but all the bien-pensants adore him. Is that a problem? It can be, because being adored by the dominant Zeitgeist is not always a good sign. (‘He who marries the Zeitgeist will soon find himself a widower’, quipped Dean Inge.) The Western Spirit of the Age is liberal, progressive and permissive. Francis is almost a dream Pope going by that. He has not yet handed out condoms like confetti or blessed abortion clinics or gay bars but…even dreams – or nightmares - must have limits, no?

You cannot really understand Pope Bergoglio unless you remember he is a Jesuit. A member of a formidable religious Order founded by St Ignatius of Loyola. A fiery Basque soldier and sensualist, whose conversion turned him into contemplative and warrior, in both the mystical and the earthly worlds. Jesuits became the Pope’s own crack battalions and entered Protestant demonology after the Reformation. Ignatius’ children were subtly clever, casuistic and scheming. An awesome threat to English mercantile Protestantism. Hundreds were martyred but the Order thrived. Of course, today Jesuits have changed a lot. Embraced Liberation Theology and similar muddled-headed but trendy ideas. So, Moses led the ‘migrant’ Jews from Egyptian slavery to freedom in Canaan, the Promised Land. (Palestine, aargh!) Alas, the migrants quickly morphed into keen exterminating warriors against the pagan natives. A moral there?

Two recent Keghart articles about the refusal of priests in Armenia to baptize several hidden Armenians visiting the country from Turkey this summer drew a huge and mostly negative response from Keghart readers.

By early September “Moslem Armenians” (Aug. 19) article by Souren Seraydarian, head of the National Congress of Western Armenians and Raffi Bedrosyan’s “Church Refuses to Grant Baptism to Hidden Armenians” (Aug. 18) had a combined 1,500 hits, not counting the additional number of 2,500 hits tracked through the distribution software and Facebook, which do not appear on the website. Together, the two pieces received 28 comments. Readers overwhelmingly supported facilitating the baptisms and many condemned Echmiadzin for its perceived intransigence. The clergy were dismissed as Pharisees, ignorant, archaic, holier-than-thou… The Church was called preposterous, dysfunctional. ....Read more>>

Several times, back in 2011, we documented the scintillating and mind-expanding conversations of Ahmet and Mehmet, two Turkish friends living in the deepest Anatolia. The two met regularly, over a cup of kehve coffee, to discuss everything under the sun. But since late 2011 there had been no word from the deep-thinking analysts. Impelled by queries from Keghart.com fans, who wondered as to what had happened to the learned pair, we visited Ahmet and Mehmet to learn why their silence when there’s so much happening in the region. Here’s their recent conversation.--Editor

At the Ataturk Pasha Café in the town of Selçuklar

Ahmet: Mehmet…is that you arkhadash?

Mehmet: Avet, avet. Yes. It’s me, Ahmet.

Ahmet: Geula, geula. Sabah khayir… sorry, I mean Gunay Sun. I heard last week that you had returned from Europe. It’s years since we had our kehve chats. I see you’ve put on weight, arkhadash. Life must be good. Where were you? ....Read more>>

Long-time friend of Canadian Armenians James (Jim) Karygiannis, a Toronto councillor and former member of parliament, was honored with the Mkhitar Gosh Medal at the Sept. 18 celebrations of the 24th anniversary of the Republic of Armenia. The award was presented by Armenia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada H.E. Armen Yeganian.

A staunch supporter of Canadian-Armenians, veteran politician Karygiannis worked for many years with the Ontario Armenian community to have the Canadian House of Commons recognize the Genocide of Armenians. Canada recognized the Genocide in April 2004. The medal was presented to Councillor Karygiannis for his substantial input in international recognition of the Genocide of Armenians. ....Read more>>

In my last essay (‘Debate and Decision’, Keghart, August 9, 2015), I asked whether there is any good reason to select oligarchy as our system of governance of Armenia. The only valid reason I had heard was that Russia itself is oligarchic, and would not countenance a democratic Armenia in its fold. I went on to make the case that while this may be a valid argument it is wrong. The comments in response to my article agreed on this point. The bottom line is that it is time to decide to reject the system we have and move into the modern world.

A much more expert economist than me, Prof. Daron Acemoglu, uses the more precise terms of ‘extractive’ for ‘oligarchic’ and ‘inclusive’ for ‘democratic’. Another term he expounds on in fantastic detail in his ground-breaking book “Why Nations Fail” is ‘creative destruction’. The latter describes one of the processes through which stagnant countries with extractive rule, break out into modernity and success with some new invention or approach that destroys the hold by the old oligarchy on the economic levers of the country. ....Read more>>

America-born lawyer Matthew Karanian went to Western Armenia in 1995 as a hitchhiking young man, and long before Turkey had relaxed its rules regarding Armenians tourists visiting their historic homeland in Western Armenia, Cilicia and other regions where their parents or grandparents were born.

Karanian has revisited historic Armenia many times since and every time he has photographed buildings which have barely survived Turkish ethnic and religious hatred, treasure hunters and army cannons which have used Armenian churches for target practice. “Historic Armenia: After 100 Years” is the result of Karanian’s peregrinations. The 176-page book, with 125 color photos and maps, is a welcome addition to the growing library of recent books about historic Armenia, outside of the Republic of Armenia. ....Read more>>

I watch the powerful images of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in the Middle East and I hear the harsh voices of some senior government officials and state bureaucrats claiming that little can be done since these “people on the move” lack proper government identification. However, I also recall the illustrious Norwegian diplomat Fridtjof Nansen and his innovative and creative solution to a similar bottleneck in the humanitarian crisis that affected the Middle East and Europe almost a hundred years ago.

Fridtjof Nansen (1861 – 1930) was a Norwegian scientist, polar explorer, diplomat, human rights and refugee official and Nobel Peace Prize recipient (1922). Achieving international fame first as an artic explorer, oceanic scientist, and author, Nansen became active in national and international diplomatic service. He served in Norwegian Foreign Service postings in London and Washington. ....Read more>>

Toronto--Sept. 8, 2015--A re-elected Conservative government would strengthen ties with Armenia by opening trade and consular office in Yerevan, announced Minister of National Defense and Multiculturalism Hon. Jason Kenney at the Armenian Community Centre today. Some 150 Armenians in attendance welcomed the minister's announcement with rousing applause.

“The pledge to open a trade and consular office demonstrates the Conservative government’s ongoing commitment to strengthen commercial and social ties with Armenia," said Mr. Kenney and added: “Canada-Armenia trade is increasing rapidly and this new office will help spur even more growth. That’s good news for the economies of both of our countries.” ....Read more>>

Boycotts, Pillages, Murders, Exiles and Fires

Sait Çetinoğlu, Turkey, 6 September 2015Translator: Serdar Koçman

The economic boycotts of the Ottoman minorities, started in 1908 with the rule of the Union and Progress party and continued until 1924 with the reign of the Kemalists, were part-and-parcel of the planned dispossession and extermination of Christians. These operations were carried out by the Young Turks as state policy. The second function and purpose of these operations was to enhance national feeling and construct the Turkish identity.

To better understand the boycott strategy the period has to be divided roughly into three parts: 1908 (Infancy); 1909 – 1911 (Maturation); and the Final Solution period after the Balkan War (starting in 1913) and its discharge under the name of exchange. After 1924 the policy to destroy the surviving remains of the sword continued and a homogeneous structure was created where the country became—proudly--99.9% Muslim. ....Read more>>